THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release May 9, 1997

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO THE VOICE OF AMERICA

PRESIDENT CLINTON: Good morning. I'm speaking to
you today from Bridgetown, Barbados, and I'm proud to be the
first American President to meet with Caribbean leaders in the
heart of the Caribbean. This was not a meeting between Caribbean
nations and the United States, it was a meeting among Caribbean
nations, including the United States.

We are charting a road map for how we can work
together for the benefit of all of our people as we move into a
new century. Today, every nation in the Americas but one has
embraced free elections and open markets. This hopeful moment
gives us real opportunities to improve the lives of all our
people. But it also demands that we work together to bring the
benefit of change to all our citizens and to band together to
meet the transnational threats that respect no borders.

That's what the Partnership for Prosperity and
Security in the Caribbean that we signed today is all about. It
lays out an ambitious action plan to expand trade with the
Caribbean, to launch the Caribbean Clean Energy Intiative to
better protect the environment, to create a Caribbean Scholars
Program so students have access to specialized training, to
support the banks that make low-interest loans readily available
to workers, farmers and women's groups, and to deepen our
cooperation to fight drugs and organized crime.

Working as partners, we can help build a future of
peace and prosperity for all our children to enjoy. That's what
we've committed to do at our summit in Barbados. That's what we
will continue to do as neighbors, friends and partners.